Thoughts on the Presidential Election

A few things struck me over the past week. If you want to know why Bernie Sanders should never be allowed near the Presidency, a comment that he made about charitable organization when he attended a meeting kicking off a United Way campaign in 1981 should clinch it. He told the gathering that he didn’t believe in what they were doing, as he commented “I don’t believe in charities,” and went on telling the stunned audience that government should be doing what they are doing. For Sanders, the state is all and this represents what the left has evolved into with the Democratic part of Socialism as only a moniker in which it is about the state controlling all. As then Governor Snelling stated the obvious counter, “Charity is not a dirty word, you can’t buy caring,” and National Review Fred Bauer tweeted, “Private good deeds should be devoured by the bureaucratic leviathan.” That sums up Hillary Clinton. That sums up Bernie Sanders. That sums up the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile in the world of the climate change debate, three new studies challenges the science that claims it is human activity that is the main driving force behind the present climate. New studies are routinely coming out challenging the notion that maybe humans are not the main reason behind our present climate and other factors are indeed involved. The big lie is that the science is settled and we know what causes climate change now, in the past, and in the future. It is not. If I was a Democrat, I would be worried since Hillary Clinton is not just a weak candidate but she should be in jail and her incompetence as Obama Secretary of State is enough of a reason not to elect her President. It is not like Democrats have many choices since Sanders is totally ignorant of economics and not much different in foreign affairs, where he believes that climate change is the most serious issue facing America, never mind the resurgence of China and Russia, Iran developing hegemony in the Middle East, the Middle East in flames, and the rise of ISIS. And does anyone believe that Joe Biden is the man for these times since he helped engineer along with Hillary and President Obama the policy that has led to a world on fire? Those are your alternatives to Hillary.

Republicans have a similar problem since Trump's campaign is becoming more erratic as Trump closes in on the nomination, but this is not the time for Republicans to coalesce around a candidate who seems to have a different position on any issue. The more the general public gets to know Trump, the more they don’t like him as his unfavorability has jumped into territory never reached. No candidate has ever been so unpopular and the problems is whether the Republicans are in a position that they can’t win with him and can’t win without him if he bolts after being denied a nomination. Trump can’t win short of an economic or foreign policy disaster, and his recent campaign in Wisconsin should give any Republican concern over nominating him regardless of the consequences. The good news if Trump is denied the nomination is the GOP has a deep bench beginning with Kasich who I find insufferable but who at least is competent, and Ted Cruz, who is at least a conservative. If they go beyond that, the bench is even deeper. (I will deal with this in another piece.)

As for Trump, he managed to blow his answer on abortion when he insinuated that women should be punished for abortion and it went downhill from there as he managed to change his position four or five times including keeping abortion laws as is. Then he attacked Walker for not caving to the public sector unions and not raising taxes while repeating leftist talking points. If Trump understood what Wisconsin conservatives did to change their state including dealing with thousands occupying the Capitol in 2011, the recall election of 2012, and the John Doe investigation in which Walker’s supporters had their home raided, he would understand their anger for his positions against Walker. Whereas much of the national media has given Trump free press, the Wisconsin conservative media was not gentle on Trump and exposed his lack of knowledge in interviews after interviews. The Republicans have a dilemma, for it is self-evident that Trump's campaign is imploding and its weakness for the general election has been exposed; plus his declining poll numbers are threatening Republican candidates down the line. This may be one of those lose-lose situations.